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Chancellor Malatras announces a $3 million nursing emergency training fund
Jim Malatras recently announced a three million dollar emergency fund that will allow more students to enroll in nursing degree programs across the SUNY and CUNY system.
This comes as nursing shortages reach all time highs across New York State, and the need for healthcare workers becomes more prevalent. The fund will expand nursing programs on campuses throughout the state, and train hundreds of prospective healthcare workers.
“You need 11 million more nurses to meet the demand in the United States of America. At the current rate we’re going, we’re going to be short 40 thousand nurses,” Jim Malatras, the SUNY Chancellor said after analyzing statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor.
SUNY Chancellor, Jim Malatras Engaged at the SUNY Cayuga School of Nursing. Photo provided by Jackie Orchard, the Deputy Press Secretary of SUNY. The U.S. Bureau of Labor also projected that employment opportunities for nurses are expected to grow at a rate of 15%. This is much faster than any other occupation through 2026.
Malatras said the fund is going to fill in the gaps, coming at a time when U.S. nursing programs are turning away applicants, now reaching full capacity, and unable to continue proper training.
“We need to hire more instructors, one of the things we’re finding out is there’s not enough nursing instructors to actually teach these programs,” Malatras added.
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras engaged at the SUNY Orange nursing program. Photo provided by Jackie Orchard, the Deputy Press Secretary for SUNY. In addition to this initiative, Governor Kathy Hochul also stepped in, announcing a new scholarship program called “Nurses for our Future.” That will cover tuition for over one thousand new registered nurses.
For SUNY Oswego, while there is no accredited nursing program for students on campus, Malatras explained that the program is going to act as a “pipeline” for students to get involved in healthcare if interested.
“There’s all sorts of associated programs, I know there’s some allied health programs that Oswego has as a transition to get into healthcare,” Malatras began. He said it’s colleges like Oswego that can benefit students, and serve as a direct path into healthcare. “It’s an all hands on deck thing, we want to leverage every part of this system that we have and make it a pipeline where it’s appropriate.”
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras engaged at the SUNY Orange nursing program. Photo provided by Jackie Orchard, the Deputy Press Secretary of SUNY. As things start slowly returning to normal amid the pandemic, Malatras also said the SUNY system is working hard to combat the pandemic in a number of ways. Since the vaccine mandate was set in place in September, and now booster shots have been made available to adults, Malatras said schools like Oswego may see more relaxed restrictions come this spring.
“It’s been great to be back up at Oswego this semester, it’s such a different feeling,” Malatras said. “It’s great to go to an ice hockey game right now, and it’s great to see friends on-campus, it’s great to see a lecture in person, it’s great to see a musical performance, and we want to keep that up.”
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“Bid Bonjour” – 22nd Annual Bidding Bonanza
Oswego, NY- Dozens of Oswego students, faculty, and community members attended the 22nd annual Bidding Bonanza at Sheldon Hall last Thursday.
Bidding Bonanza, or “Bid Bon,” is an auction run by students and resident mentors in Johnson Hall’s FYRE program. This yearly event raises money for the hall’s scholarship, which current residents can apply for.
“It’s really awesome because everyone comes out.” Resident Mentor Bowden Drake-Deese said. “We work on it (basically) all of second semester. It’s the first thing we talk about when all the R.M.’s come together at the beginning of training.”
The auction consisted of various services, products, and prizes provided by generous donors. Many students and community menbers won items like gift baskets, show tickets, and autographed pictures. They were also served baguettes and macaroons served by students as a part of this year’s theme.
“We’re calling it Bid Bonjour.” Resident Mentor Cindy Pietrakowski said. “We have a little persian town over by the stage with two eifell towers.”
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Pierre Notches Double Double In Lakers’ Win
The Oswego State men’s basketball team defeated Buffalo State on Friday by a final score of 69-59. With the victory, the Lakers improve to 11-11 overall and 8-7 in the conference while the Bengals drop to 8-14.
While Oswego had struggled to get going offensively in previous games, they were able to come out strong against the Bengals. The Lakers went on 8-0 and 11-0 runs respectively during the first half and held a 26-18 lead going into halftime. Jamir Ferebee led the team with a game high 18 points during that span and finished with 22 points.
Oswego maintained a balanced scoring attack for the second consecutive game as Tyler Pierre (13), Josh Ivey (12) and Liam Sanborn (11) joined Ferebee in scoring double digits. Along with 13 points, Pierre also collected 13 rebounds giving the junior his fifth double double of the season.
The Lakers will face Fredonia in a SUNYAC matchup on Saturday as they try to move over .500 for the first time since January 6th. Tip off is scheduled for 4 pm.
